Campbell Wins Awards for Initiatives in Teaching Genomics
Associate Professor Malcolm Campbell, director of Davidson's James G. Martin Genomics Program.
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9/22/2006
Contact: Bill Giduz 704/894-2244 or bigiduz@davidson.edu
Davidson College biologist Malcolm Campbell, director of the James G. Martin Genomics Program, has created a model research laboratory. The undergraduate students who work with him get his personal academic guidance, ample resources, and hands-on experience with the best equipment. They’re involved with cutting edge science, working now on a synthetic biology project to create a rudimentary computer from DNA and E. coli.
But Campbell’s ambitions as a teacher have always stretched far beyond the bounds of his own classroom. For many years, he has found creative means to help students worldwide learn this rapidly developing field that could produce revolutionary improvements in medical care and food production. “We have everything we need at Davidson to do genomics successfully,” he said. “So why not share our tools and help others?”
His outreach efforts have recently been recognized by two professional organizations with their top awards for leadership in teaching.
The American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB) will present Campbell with its Bruce Alberts Award for Excellence in Science Education at the organization’s annual meeting in San Diego in early December. In its announcement, ASCB noted, “Campbell has been a leader in bringing genomics to the undergraduate curriculum.” Campbell and the other winner of the award this year, Sarah Elgin of Washington University in St. Louis, were the founding co-editors of the society’s journal, CBE: Life Sciences Education from 2002-2005.
Another of Campbell’s efforts, a multimedia presentation entitled “MicroArrays MediaBook,” has received the international Pirelli Award as the “Best Work for Educational Institutions.” Created with collaborators at UNC Chapel Hill, the
MicroArrays MediaBook shows students how microarrays are created and analyzed, and applications of the technology. Its graphic sophistication commands attention, and students can test their understanding of the material with questions for each section.
As winner of the Alberts Award, Campbell receives the honor of addressing ASCB members at the upcoming meeting, and plans to review his involvement in genomics teaching. Each year, the meeting hosts about 10,000 biologists from all over the world.
Genomics researcher Samantha Simpson ’09 reports on her work at the lab's weekly meeting. Those listening in the background are (l-r) Ben Whigham '07, King Associate Professor of Mathematics Laurie Heyer, and Postdoctoral Fellow Karmella Haynes.
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In 2001, Campbell and Laurie Heyer, his faculty colleague in the Davidson mathematics department, published the first-ever undergraduate genomics textbook, Discovering Genomics, Proteomics, and Bioinformatics. Now in its second edition, the book makes genomics relevant for students through a case-based approach that mimics the way professional researchers work.
Each section title poses broad questions such as: “Where did humans evolve?” “Can we invent new types of medication using genomic information?” “Are genetically modified organisms bad?” “Can we understand cancer better by understanding its circuitry?” and “Why can’t I just take a pill to lose weight?”
At about the same time, Campbell founded the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) to distribute microarray “chips” affordably for undergraduate research. These chips are glass slides dotted with every gene in an organism. By reading the state of the genes under different conditions, students can identify which genes are responsible for cellular activities. The consortium has grown to include 130 colleges and universities nationwide, and more than 6,000 undergraduates have gained hands-on experience with this cutting edge technology.
Campbell presents his work at professional conferences nationwide, publishes papers in journals, and has secured outside funding to purchase equipment and implement his teaching projects. Grants have allowed the Martin Genomics Program to expand through hiring an administrator for GCAT and a computer technician. Their help has relieved Campbell from some of his administrative duties, freeing him to spend more time directing student research and helping colleagues around the globe with their own genomics programs.
“I’m very driven to share resources and help people learn,” he explained. “It’s just an internal drive. I realized during my first year in college that I wanted to be teacher. Making the right resources available to people can be a determining factor in whether they get involved in genomics or not.”
Now genomics is leading him into the exciting area of synthetic biology, in which genetic material is manipulated for useful purposes. Research students working with Campbell and Heyer are developing a means for “flipping” sequences of DNA to do mathematical calculations.
Campbell, Heyer, postdoctoral fellow Karmella Haynes, and the student research team -- Lance Harden ‘09, Samantha Simpson ’09, Erin Zwack ’08, and Sabriya Rosemond from Hampton University -- will present their work in early November at the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machines) competition at MIT in Boston. He expects the research will create a big impression. “As far as we can tell, this is the first in vivo DNA computer, the first time anyone’s used a living cell to solve a mathematical problem,” he said. “Ours is just a rudimentary step, but might be a proof-of-concept that leads to real problem solving capacity by bacterial computers.”
The competition will include scientists from thirty-seven of the best research labs in the world, all demonstrating their research on the front line of synthetic biology. Campbell is thrilled that Davidson students will share the stage with graduate students and top Ph.D. faculty from places such as Cambridge (UK), Zurich, and India. “I am confident our undergraduate students will deliver excellent presentations, because they get lots of experience making presentations in class and in their research,” he said. “Top scientists around the world will hear them, and they’ll be recognized as attractive candidates for whatever graduate programs they want to enter.”
Campbell realized early on as a Davidson undergraduate that he wanted to be a teacher. “My favorite thing to do is take something complex and present it in a way that anyone can understand, without dumbing it down,” he said. “Knowledge is power, and I love empowering people.”
He takes understandable pride in the achievements of his former students. They include an instructor at Harvard who is developing a new cell biology curriculum there, three students in graduate school at Johns Hopkins University, a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh who hopes to work on new cancer treatments, a Princeton Ph.D. in virology, and many more.
Genomics is a complex, changing field that requires an open mind, a willingness to blend math and biology, and creativity. Campbell is also convinced genomics is changing the world, and therefore should concern everyone. “Even if a college graduate doesn’t goes into science, he or she will some day be a patient, or have a sick child,” he said. “Knowing genomics will help in understanding diagnoses and treatments, and why science education is a integral component of the liberal arts.”
Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,700 students. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine.
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